Taiwan President Hopes to Visit Washington

[dArKeR]

By Richard Dobson

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian hopes to visit Washington during his second four-year term, a presidential office statement said Sunday, days after he placated the United States by avoiding provocation of China.

Chen made stopovers in New York in 2001 and 2003, but analysts said a visit to the U.S. capital is certain to rile China, which considers the self-ruled island a wayward province that must be returned to the fold, by force if it formally declares statehood.

"I sincerely hope I can have the opportunity to visit Washington over the next four years...and personally witness the sincere friendship between the peoples of Taiwan and the United States," the statement quoted Chen as telling a group of pro-independence Taiwanese-American professors in Taipei late Saturday.


When Lee Teng-hui visited New York in 1995 becoming the first Taiwan president to set foot on U.S. soil in almost two decades, China menaced the island with months of war games and missile tests.

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